Breathe Again
by Little Moose
Summary: Rate M for violence. Hiei saves an injured and poisoned Sakura from a group of demons that mean to kill her. When she regains consciousness Hiei begins to ask question that triggers a painful memory. A memory from when she lost and gained everything. HieixOC Please reivew.


**Yu-Yu Hakusho **

**One Shot: Breathe Again**

**Author's Note and disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Yu Hakusho or any of its character; they belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. I do, however, own my original character, Sakura. I've wanted to write a yyh fic for the longest time, I just couldn't think of anything. So this is what happens when I "wing" it. **

The pulsating sensation didn't stop, the ach in her shoulder was slowly getting worse and the material that was once her shirt was drenched in blood. She needed to get out, she needed to get far away from this place, but where could she go? Everywhere she turned there was someone waiting in the dark bushes of night to take her life. All she could do was run from them, stumble and fall. Only to get up and repeat the process—she hated it. Running away, it made the pit of her stomach wretch, made her angry to the point where she would take a stand and die stupidly.

What she needed was help.

She fell against a tree, breathing heavily and holding her wounded shoulder. Hoping the pressure would stop the bleeding, but the chance of that happening was next to impossible. She sighed and slumped all the way down to the roots. If her enemies found her, they would surely kill her. A few twigs snapped around her, they were light—most likely animals frolicking around the forest. As she started to drift away a figure stood before her, her vision was becoming more blurry by the second—so being able to tell if this figure was a friend of foe was a dream.

When she awoke she wasn't in the woods running from her would-be-killers. She was in new clothes, with her injury bandaged and in a house. The area around her was calming wood with a tatami door, floor and window. Attempting to sit up was a chore, but ignoring the grogginess and pain she sat up and tried to get her bearings.

"Relax, you're safe." The voice was soft, familiar. Looking towards the window, the figure from when she was passing out turned out to be someone that she has always been able to rely on.

"Hiei…" Her voice was raspy, dry as a desert. Taking note, Hiei left the window and went to the small table that had a water basin and a cup. After pouring a cup of water for her the girl went to grab it from Hiei, but her vision doubled over when the fever flourish throughout her limbs. Before her body limped to the side, Hiei swiftly caught her.

"Just lay still, Ayame." His timbre voice was soothing to her ears. Tilting her head back, Hiei brought the cup to her lips and letting the water coat her throat. Thanking him, Ayame sat up from his arm and clenched her eyes shut—willing the headache to disappear.

"Where are we?" Ayame asked as she fought a yawn, "how did you find me?"

Chuckling to himself, Hiei answered, "We're at Genkai's compound and as for finding you. With those idiots screaming after you, paired with my jagan it was easy to locate you. The real problem was getting rid of those pests."

Ayame stopped being impressed by Hiei's tracking skills a long time ago. "How did you get them off my trail?"

"It was simple; I lead them away with my own energy." Hiei slid down the wall across from her, with his hands planted in his pockets. "But answer me this, Ayame."

When Ayame didn't answer, Hiei continued, "Why were they after you to begin with? Those demons should have been easy for you to kill, but they overpowered you."

Ayame took a minute to collect her thoughts, remembering why she was running away and how she got injured was a bit fuzzy. "I was home, it was quiet and the next thing I know I got shot and those demons broke in. I think the thing that shot me was full of poison and that's why I couldn't fight back."

"That would explain your freakish fever and the amount of blood you loss." Hiei blurted bluntly, "Another questions we've all been asking is, what the hell did you do to them to piss them off so much?"

Again, thinking for a moment, Ayame thought back. She's never seen them before, granted she's been around for a few hundred years, but she's never forgotten a face. And then it hit her, the one memory she worked hard to conceal. The one and only time she had ever cried was when her parents were murdered before her eyes when she was a child. And now that the haunting memory is resurfacing the tears were threatening to fall, catching both Hiei and Ayame off guard.

Seeing her chock up was something Hiei wasn't prepared for, not knowing how to comfort her; he just sat there looking dumbfounded. As she fought them off, quiet sobs escaping from her pouting lips. The terror from that night was too much for her to handle, even after a few millenniums she could hardly stand to even remember the faces of her parent's dead bodies.

Seeing the terror in Ayame's normally strong face, Hiei decided he had better do something before she ended up losing it. He stood, crossed the room in a few short milliseconds and sat beside Ayame. His arm crossed over her lap to hold her shaking hand, while the other caressed her face and lifted it to his. The tears were freely flowing, her eyes glossy with fear. Leaning into his chest, surprising Hiei, she began to cry even harder. It was too much for her to bear, with everything swimming back to her.

Hiei went stiff, this is the first time Ayame had ever acted like this around him. Well, she's been emotional around him, but she was always angry. Ayame's type of anger could destroy whole cities with her power. But this, this was a first. So, of course, he was hesitant to wrap his arms around her. Eventually, he embraced her. Hiei cradled her head to his chest, while the other was tight around her body. He was at a loss for words, though, he wasn't like Kurama or even that oaf, Kuwabara. He couldn't put elegant words together to make a person feel at ease. All he had were his actions, those never betray him.

Raising her head at an angle where Ayame's dark orbs would meet Hiei's, he kissed her forehead and then her nose and then turning her head to the side he kissed the far side of her cheek. He held her softly, letting his whole arm snake up her back and tangle his fingers in her lengthy red hair.

Ayame ended up falling asleep in his lap. She clung to his cloak like a child, as stray tears traced her cheeks. Hiei played with the ends of her hair, intertwining them between his fingers and then smoothed them out. Behind the white cloth his jagan glowed with a slight red tint. Slipping into Ayame's mind, Hiei saw how her life of anger began.

Hiei didn't recognize the era she was in. Probably because she was born long before he was. Everyone was still wearing kimonos and the streets were dirt and bear. He caught a glimpse of Ayame playing in the garden of her home, so tiny and innocent, not knowing what was about to happen. Her parents were watching her from the door, smiling brightly, even though they wouldn't be able to watch their only child grow into a beautiful woman or a monster.

Her memory switched to that evening. They were eating at the table, her parents talking about mundane things, while Ayame picked at her fish. Suddenly their door was kicked in and then confusion swirled around them. Her mother was screaming for Sakura to run away, but a demon had pinned her to the ground. Her mother's throat was slashed and blood, like a waterfall, gushed from her flesh. The father stormed in with a sword in hand, he took a couple of demons down, but he was soon gutted. His entrails spilling before Ayame's very eyes as crocodile tears stained her plump cheeks. The demon released her, kicking her to the side. Before they left they raided her home, stealing whatever they could carry.

When Ayame regained consciousness, she went after the demons, but soon realized she didn't know which way they went. She wandered, never eating or drinking, she never stopped. Not even when her feet began to bleed. A group of traveling swordsmen eventually found her. When they took her in, they cared for her as if she was their own daughter. Brought her up in the ways of the sword and went demon hunting with them.

By the time she was an adult, around twenty, her family was slaughtered by an extremely powerful demon. Ayame sustained severe injuries, but she still stood. The demon was impressed with her strength of will and questioned why she refused to run away or die like the rest of her troop. She wanted revenge against the demons that took her parents away from her, she answered.

So the demon struck a deal with Ayame. The demon confessed that she was dying and in order to stay alive she would have to possess a human, she told Ayame if she drank her blood she would live on through Ayame's blood. She promised that Ayame would forever be immortal and she would have the unbelievable power to enact her revenge. Without hesitation Ayame took the deal, but made the demon promise that Sakura would remain in control of her body.

Within a few years, Ayame had mastered the demon's power and techniques. She had taken her revenge and wandered all around Japan until she was kicked out and sent to the demon world before she became too powerful for the human world to handle.

Hiei broke away from her mind, feeling sorry for the girl who had gained so much when she lost everything. He cradled her upper body to his chest, her face buried in the nook of his neck. He scooted towards the wall, with Ayame still in his arms and he held her there—never wanting to release her.

Kurama slid the door to Ayame's room open, only to find that her bed was empty. A quick panic settled in his heart, thinking that those demons found her and accomplished their goal. However, when he walked further into the room he saw Hiei sitting up against the wall. He supported Ayame in her arms, the two of them peacefully asleep. With a small smile, Kurama drifted a blanket over her and around Hiei. Leaving the room quietly, Kurama turned back to get one last look of the inevitable couple.

**Author's note: Wow I can't believe I finished this in one day…that like never happens. I thought seeing the softie side of Hiei was needed, I like it in small doses. Please review!**


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